ISD and LSE's Arena Program launched their research report ‘‘Make Germany Great Again" to high-level expert, media and policy audiences in Berlin, last week.

The report uncovers the mutually reinforcing strategies and tactics employed by Kremlin-affiliated and alt-right groups to influence the 2017 German federal elections. It highlights the use of both inaccurate Kremlin-sponsored media and media manipulation by pro-Kremlin social media networks to galvanise support for the AfD.

The research, funded by the Open Society Initiative for Europe and the LSE Arena Project, explored the German media ecosystem using an innovative methodology that combines the latest in social media analytics, broadcast monitoring, investigative journalism and in-depth subject matter expertise.

ISD's Sasha Havlicek and Anne Applebaum, Head of LSE's Arena Program, were hosted by Stiftung Neue Veranwortung for a high-level luncheon at which they presented the findings and led discussions with senior representatives from the German Foreign Office, the Chancellery, the BND, the media and the private sector.

In the evening, Stiftung Neue Veranwortung hosted an ‘in conversation’ with Anne Applebaum and Sasha Havlicek on the implications of the report’s findings with an audience of over 50 experts from media, industry, academia, and politics.